Launch of UWICAPD

THE idea of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Association for Persons with Disabilities (UWICAPD) was birthed from the experiences, both positive and negative, of the President, Miranda Blackman.

Speaking during the launch of the initiative, which was held at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus (UWI), Blackman highlighted that she had a vision to ensure that equality for persons with disabilities was conceptualised and heard by many.

Acknowledging that the launch was just the beginning, Blackman said that their objectives were to encourage a bond between educators and the general public, as such united efforts will secure every student with disabilities the highest advantages academically, physically, socially and spiritually; to educate and promote empowerment for our members, to keep members and other students aware of modern methods in the field of education, as it relates to disabilities and disability rights and to promote closer co-operation between the administration of UWI and students with disabilities.

“We are excited to carry out our mission, which is to empower and educate through initiative and innovation,” she enthused.

Faculty Advisor and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology, Dr. Colin Depradine, was excited for the launch of this programme, as it provided them with the opportunity to change the negative mindset that persons ordinarily had when perceiving people with disabilities.

He noted that there were many people in Barbados that associate the word “disability” with phrases that include negative words such as “burden”, “inconvenience”, “inability”, “dumb” and the like, and expressed that he believed the only way to change this thinking is through a variety of actions that UWICAPD had planned, which included education of the public.

Depradine encouraged persons to look and move beyond the word “disability”, and simply view the differently abled person in front of them without thinking of their disability. He explained that by doing this, persons will realise that there are plenty of other words that can be used to describe persons with disabilities, such as “intelligent”, “resilient”, “creative” and “entrepreneurial”.